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Barn Dance!
"Barn Dance!" is Episode 6 in Season 6. It originally aired on March 27, 1989 Synopsis The episode begins with LeVar riding on a hay-filled wagon pulled by horses in Tennessee. He gets down to welcome the viewers. He tells them that if they like great music and dancing, they're in for a treat. He and some friends are going to a place called Smiley Hollow for a barn dance. He claims that he has never been there before and doesn't know where it is. The two horses, Bill and Jim, lead the way there. The dance can't start without him, so they have to get there before the Sun sets. Bill and Jim have been taking people to barn dances for years. When they finally arrive there, LeVar gets down. LeVar hears the music coming inside the place where the barn dance is going to be held. He says that one is only as good as its music. As soon as the band finishes playing, he comments on how good they were. He introduces the viewers to the Kreg Dunkin Band. They are made of Billy on guitar, Gene on banjo, Terry on bass, and Kreg on fiddle. They play bluegrass music together. That is a kind of folk music that is passed from father to son. They play a little of the Reading Rainbow theme bluegrass style. A barn dance just wouldn't be any fun without the band. While LeVar and the band get ready, he tells the viewers that it takes more than good musicians to make the bluegrass sound. It takes good instruments to do that as well. A man named Gene Horner shows the viewers how he can take an ordinary piece of wood and turn into a sweet-sounding fiddle. He first started getting into them at age 15. LeVar and the others are in the old barn where the band is rehearsing. The dance is only a few hours away and he admits to the viewers that he has never been to an actual barn dance before. He is so excited, but he doesn't know how so he is. Some kids come up with similes to suggest for him like "excited as a fish who caught the worm," "excited as a monkey in a banana tree," and "excited as an elephant in a peanut factory." He finally comes up with his own simile: "I'm as excited as a flea at a dog show." LeVar hears some dancing going on inside the hall. He thinks there is going to be tap dancing, but it is not actually that. Some people are doing a dance called clogging, a traditional form of folk dancing. This type was brought on from England, Ireland, and Scotland. In it there is a caller--a person who calls out the moves and tells the dancers what to do. The dancers show LeVar how it's done. Anybody can clog. They coax him into trying it out, but he is a little nervous. Pretty soon, he gets the hang of it. LeVar recites the opening line from the title book because the time has finally come for the dance to begin. Everybody in the old barn dances up a storm and it fills up with good music. When it is over, LeVar tells the viewers that a barn dance is incredible. He joins the other dancers and does so with them during the closing credits. Review Books *The Old Banjo *I Like the Music *Half a Moon and One Whole Star Category:Season 6 Category:Episodes